Your Song
by perspicaciousOncolysis
Summary: Humanstuck. Aradia, a foreigner to Paris who busks in the metro, falls in love with a millionaire's beautiful daughter, Feferi Peixes. The only problems are that she has no money and no connections, and naturally, Feferi has a boyfriend.
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys! This is my first attempt at a Homestuck fic, haha. I know there's no mention of Feferi in this chapter but it's coming! Hope you enjoy. _edit:_ Starts off with Equius/Aradia and Feferi/Eridan. This will change!

* * *

><p>Your name is Aradia Megido, and you just moved to Paris. You don't know a whole lot of French but you're still learning. You moved to the metro and the only person you really know is your very angry landlord and your very creepy neighbor. At least he seems friendly enough, though. He offered to fix your air conditioner when it went out and he said that it happens a lot in houses this part of the city, and his name is Equius Zahhak. His French is heavy and careful and accented just like yours so you guess he's a foreigner too, and that's pretty comforting.<p>

You're going to get a job, you tell yourself as you sink down on your hand-me-down couch. You turn on the TV and watch the news, which is all in French. You're not sure why you expected it to _not_ be in French, but regardless you still hardly understand a word of it.

The problem is you're not even really sure what you're good at. You could be an artist, maybe, but that took money for paints and canvases and who knew when you'd actually get discovered? Or if you would. Plus, that took talent that you weren't sure you had. You could take a job as a waitress, but that thought seemed entirely unappealing. You weren't the best with people or serving people either. Your main interests were in archaeology and _adventure!_ but there were hardly any jobs for that and you were living in _Paris._

You listen to the murmur of the TV and the hum of the air conditioner and realize that you have just started your new life, but you have no idea how to do anything. You're horribly alone except for a slightly creepy neighbor and a landlord who is perpetually angry about every little thing that goes wrong. You don't know French and the world is a really, really big place.

You quickly wipe the tears threatening to fall from your brown eyes.

A knock at your door alarms you and you stand up abruptly, walking over. You click off the TV first because it's just noise anyway, and you open the door to see Equius standing there. He's dark-skinned and strong-built, with his hair long but tied back. For some reason you really wish you could place where he came from but his accent isn't telling.

"Would you like to come over?" He asks you, strange accent thick as ever over steady French. He seems a little bit nervous and something about that is endearing even if you've only known him a few days.

You hesitate before giving a nod, touching your wavy hair nervously. You don't really have any food in the fridge anyway and something in your heart says that you should really not spend tonight alone, and he's currently the only friend you have. He seems enthusiastic and after you turn off the lights he leads you over to his place.

It's not any nicer or less nice than yours, you suppose. A little messy and it certainly is more homey, despite robots being littered around.

You proceed to enjoy a dinner he made – a nice talent to have, you note – and watch movies and talk a little and not think about what's going to happen tomorrow when you get out in the world again. You just enjoy your kind-of date and relax as best you can.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey again guys! I'm trucking along. Also yes, I am well aware my chapters are really short. Feferi's introduction happens! Also feel free to tell me what you think: next chapter, Feferi's point of view maybe?

* * *

><p>You finally seemed to have found your niche. Well, not really, but it's a start. You and Equius are awkwardly kind-of-but-not-really dating sometimes, and you figure it was inevitable considering you really didn't know anyone else and you were both foreigners here in France. Through him you met a few other people, like your angry landlord named Karkat. You noted that was a strange name when you met him, but so was yours.<p>

After going through some of the things you brought with you to Paris, you discovered your old violin. It was a beautiful one, that your father had given you. It wasn't just a violin. It was something that would give you a normal life. It was his way of saying that you didn't have to be part of the yakuza. And you loved it. You loved it even more now.

Because that violin was the thing that gave you your brilliant idea. For extra money you'd be a busker. Sure, it wasn't the best source of money, but it was still a source of money all the same, aside from your new job helping out at the library. Your first day out in the metro playing no one really stopped, and that was normal. But you'd keep trying.

It was around two weeks after you'd started busking in the metro that you saw _her_ for the first time. She looks lost, and not to mention out of place. Her hair is thick and full and _holy shit is it long_. Her clothes are fancy, expensive and top-of-the-line Paris fashion, and her face is made up in flattering summery hues. She's got on all sorts of jewelry and she looks like she just stepped out of a magazine. What was she doing in the metro amongst all the suits?

You spare her a glance while you play, still keeping your mind focused on the notes. You think she must be lost, indeed, with the way she clutches her cell phone and looks around. But suddenly she looks straight at you with bright blue eyes and you screw up a note as she walks over to listen.

She was the only one who really stopped to listen to you that day. Not only that, but she stays for the entire song, and only when you stop and let the last note reverberate through the metro does she seem to snap out of her trance. You open your mouth to say something but not even a "hello", be it Japanese or French, escapes from your lips.

The girl just smiles at you happily, giving a little wave as she starts off. You watch her go before you look down at your open violin case. In there is a bill; you have to look at it at least three times before you're actually sure you're not imagining it. It's real, you're holding it in your hands; she gave you a two hundred euro bill.

You stare off in the general direction she went, and before you know it there's a smile gracing your face. You can't seem to get rid of it, not even when you pack up and head home. Your apartment seems a little less lonely knowing that there are good people like her in the world who act selflessly like that. Okay, maybe dropping such a huge bill was a mistake. But still you felt warm and happy inside, so you clutch a pillow and grin widely, rolling around a little on your bed.

Maybe things in Paris really are going to go well.

**== Be Feferi?**


	3. Chapter 3

Your name is Feferi Peixes and you are 'lost' in the metro for the third time this week. You're not entirely sure why you keep doing this. You have no reason to go through the metro really, aside from one day just feeling an urge to go traipsing through the city of Paris.

Really though, you know why you do. You keep going to see that busker girl. Sure, there were all sorts of buskers around Paris, with all variety of instruments and characters. You were fond of the unshaven boys with light eyes and T-shirts and guitars who sang love songs, and you came upon all sorts of people playing the strangest things, from pan flutes to bongos.

But you were just so taken with the foreigner who played violin. She played beautifully, and you'd always had a thing for classical instruments. She filled the metro with beautiful music and you adored it. Maybe that was why you'd paid her so highly the first day. So yet again you found yourself standing near to her, watching her fingers carefully. You can just imagine her practicing for hours on end to get her fingers to work so quickly.

Not only did she play wonderfully, but she was pretty, too – she had a sort of classic, modest beauty about her, with her almost-black, wavy hair, light skin, under her dress and jacket. After she finishes this song, she starts to pack up and you go up to her with a smile, never nervous meeting new people. Besides, you remind yourself, she's not a stranger. You've seen each other several times now, just never … actually talked.

"_Bonjour,_" you greet her.

"_Bonjour,_" she responds, giving a polite smile.

You start speaking happily to her. Introductions first, compliments next. "My name is Feferi Peixes," you start. "You play wonderfully! Just so you know."

She smiles a little brighter, looking somewhat bewildered. "_Merci. Je m'appelle Aradia Megido,_" she answers simply. She fumbles in her jacket for a moment, then pulls out a folded bill. Two hundred euros. "I think you accidentally gave me this…?" She held it out for you. Her French was halting and shy, and thickly accented.

You stare down at the bill for a minute before reaching up and closing her hand around it with a giggle. "No! I meant it. You deserve it!" You pause momentarily, feeling you ought to explain. "I really like what you're doing, Aradia. I think everyone needs more music in their lives!"

She hesitantly closes her hand around the bill before she pulls her hand out of yours, sticking it back in her pocket, and then she flushes a light sort of pink. "Thank you," she says, smiling widely. "I just like to play." Her French is simple and unpracticed, and that makes you smile, too.

"Where are you from?"

Suddenly you and her are in a totally different world. Talking and laughing in that shy way that people who are getting to know each other do. Everyone passes you by impatiently but neither of you really mind. You find out she's from Japan. You tell her you're French born and raised. Before you know it you're both talking excitedly, either of you only catching a few of the others' words either from the accent or the foreign language, exchanging phone numbers and taking quick contact pictures. The latter being your idea, of course.

You always made fast friends with everyone, and Aradia was no exception. You're really excited about this friendship, strange and sudden as it may be. You can just tell it's going to go, well, _swimmingly._

"Your phone," Aradia points out while you're spelling your name for her contact list. You realize you've gotten a message on your phone and hand Aradia's back to her. The message is from Eridan, reminding you about another scheduled thing you're missing right now in favor of standing around in the metro. That's true, so you laugh and look apologetically at the other girl.

"I have to go now," you say. "Send me a message sometime! I always answer."

With that, you were off, with a skip in your step – not that that was abnormal for you. You hummed a song under your breath as you headed for the aquarium.

* * *

><p>((Yes, it is implied that they are speaking French. I do not actually know enough French to make this clear really, haha.))<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Continue being Feferi.**

* * *

><p>You are having a great week. You've made it part of your daily schedule to take the metro, even if you have nowhere to go. You're even getting along with your mother for once, which was certainly a feat. You hadn't gotten along with her … well, ever. You just weren't the type of daughter she wanted, you suppose.<p>

Your mother and yourself could be counted as famous in the way that people with money always are. Old and new money, business was in your blood. You basically owned Paris or at least a significant portion. Eridan always said you ought to live up to the standard your family held you to. But you aren't and have never been interested in that; you aren't a businesswoman.

You lean back against Eridan's chest as you think about those things. You can't really focus on the movie you were watching at his apartment on his comfy sofa, so you just turn your phone in your hands with an impossible smile. After a few moments it goes off with the tone you set for Aradia. Eridan sighs as you happily read the text, and you can just see him running his hand through the blonde streak in his chestnut hair behind you.

"You even gonna watch the movie, Fef?" He asks in his silly accented French. "I'm gonna think you're cheatin' on me if you get many more messages from that same person."

You laugh good-naturedly, squeezing his hand which rests protectively on your stomach. "It's just my friend," you answer, "Aradia, remember?"

He gives a nod as you slip off his lap. You and Aradia were fast friends; in fact, you hadn't had someone you texted so much since you were in junior high and the advent of the cell phone meant you had to use it like you were going to lose it. She made you feel comfortable and was so easy to talk to, even despite the fact that if she tried to get into complicated French she made so many mistakes her sentences became impossible to understand. She had a "kind-of" boyfriend you wanted to meet soon, and she wanted to visit you at the aquarium sometime since she didn't know much about fish.

You hadn't even kept track of how many times you'd seen her already, even having only known her for a short time. Every morning, at the same time, going to the metro just to see her and listen to her music. Coming up with all sorts of things to do with her around Paris. You couldn't decide if it was just because you really liked her, or you were so excited to have a best friend again. Maybe it was both.

You make plans to have a sleepover with her at your house tomorrow, while Eridan holds his camera in his hands. He was frustrated with his job lately. He wanted to chase his dreams, but no one was interested in a photographer. You give a half-smile and move over next to him again, slipping your arms around him and snuggling into the crook of his arm.

"_Je t'adore,_" you say with a gentle smile. Saying it gave you a funnier feeling in your stomach than usual for some reason. Like you'd just stepped into a field of mines and the next step you took could kill you.

"You too," he answers a little disconnectedly. He sets his camera back down next to him and stares at it a moment, and for once you can't tell what's going on in his head. There's some sort of sorrow and anger behind his brown eyes, you think, but you're not sure.

You sigh and try to ignore the real possibility of fighting with him again. You try to lose yourself in the movie and not imagine the leads as Aradia, her mysterious boyfriend, yourself and Eridan. You try not to imagine all the sort of drama that may very well happen, because you know you'll be stuck in the middle holding back the tides.

At some point you fall asleep, and when you wake up Eridan's in his room and left you sleeping on the couch with a blanket wrapped around you. Despite the sounds of cars outside and the dim city lights through the window of your boyfriend's high-end apartment, you feel so lonely.


	5. Chapter 5

Your name is Aradia Megido and you just woke up on your desk yet again, papers strewn about everywhere. You look around groggily and check the desk clock. _2:34 am._ For several nights now this has been happening, the same thing; you write and write before you inevitably pass out from exhaustion, and then the next night you do the exact same thing. Your new sleeping habits have required you to switch from tea in the morning to something actually containing caffeine.

You look down at the paper your head was resting on. This time it seems you didn't smudge the writing on the lines, which is good since buying blank music sheets in bulk was expensive.

You had been struck with inspiration to a huge degree not too long ago. Writing songs. You had the music in your head, and it was a pain to get it on paper, but with some effort you'd been able to do just that. It wasn't clear exactly what had gotten you so set on this project, but at least now you could put a finger on it. Every chord and every rhythm neatly arranged itself around the thought of Feferi in your mind.

Writing the song was hard work. You grab the papers with mistakes or ideas you didn't like and tossed them out, gathering the two or three unmarred pages and putting them in the desk. You slip into bed, the melody replaying in your head.

Hearing that song, you have a dream about Feferi that night.

The next day something happens that hasn't ever happened in any moment you can bring to your thoughts. You are walking with Equius through _Jardin du Luxembourg_. He has his arm intertwined with yours, with the sort of nervous tightness of someone with a junior high crush. It's evening and the fall leaves crunch underneath your feet. You both talk quietly, him more than you; as it always is with him. For some reason or another you aren't so chatty with him. He's saying how you both ought to be further up in Paris, particularly since your blood is far more noble than befitting how you're living now. That's an assumption he's made, you think; you haven't told anyone about your actual roots.

You quietly hum the song to yourself, thinking of new ways to improve it. Your fingers itch to hold your violin and continue writing, but you suppose you've cancelled on Equius enough lately. As you approach _La fontaine Médicis_ you become painfully aware of all the other couples in the park, and that you and Equius are a couple. Are you, though, you wonder? You've never kissed, never done anything. Never called one another by a pet name, or 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'. You don't see each other on a daily basis and don't care to, and you still think he's sort of the creepy neighbor who is the only person you really know in Paris and that's the reason you started not-dating.

He interrupts your thoughts as he suddenly releases your arm, looking down at you. Equius's features are strong and masculine and as much as you feel like you ought to be a girl who is small and easily tucked under his arm and feels safe there, you know you're not. And you recognize the look he's giving you.

The man slowly leans in to you. Your eyes widen, holding his as they close gently. Your stomach does a flip. _This is the part where you lean in,_ you think, _if you want to kiss him._

But you don't.

"_Il faut que je parte!_" You exclaim as you pull away from him. You only face his direction long enough to see his eyes reopen in confusion as you start off, rubbing your arms under the long sleeves of your jacket. You leave him standing there and you feel strange and unsettled.

You've never had a boyfriend before, save years ago when you were in elementary school and a boy you were close with had called each other such because you didn't know what love even meant. It just made you sound more grown-up to say you were in love and you had a boyfriend.

When you get back to your place you sit on your bed against the headboard, with your knees up to your chest. You hum to yourself and the melody brings up the thought of Feferi again.

You know exactly why you didn't want to kiss Equius.

* * *

><p><em>"Il faut que je parte" <em>means "_I have to go_". _Jardin du Luxembourg_ is the second most popular park in Paris, also being featured in _Les Misérables_.


	6. Chapter 6

Vriska makes an appearance (kind of)! I love Vris(diamond)Fef so I am subjecting you to all of my ships.

* * *

><p>Your name is Feferi Peixes. You just had a fight with your boyfriend and found yourself back at your house, laying on your couch in your pretty fashionable clothes, hugging an oversized squiddle plush. It's not a big deal, you think, it'll be better soon. You just have to give him time to cool off and you can talk it out. You've been lying here for long enough, you think, and you sit up, grabbing your laptop and setting it on top of the squiddle that is now in your lap.<p>

It's around ten p.m, you notice as you open the laptop, trying not to look too hard at your wallpaper of yourself and Eridan at the aquarium kissing the glass, with fish right at your lips. You think about it for a moment. You and Eridan met in the summer and it pretty quickly went from best friends to a couple when he asked you on a date. You two had the definition of a whirlwind summer romance.

And now with winter approaching it was tearing at the seams. You'd been fighting more frequently lately. You sigh at the thought; Eridan was the first boy who'd meant anything to you. Even your mother liked him, which was definitely a feat. You don't want to lose him.

You push those thoughts aside and open Pesterchum to see who's online. Aradia was out tonight so you didn't want to text her and disturb her. You get an offline message as soon as you open it up.

- ariadosGlory [AG] began pestering cuttlefishCutie [CC] at 20:34. -

AG: Saluuuuuuuut, princess.

AG: We haven't caught up in a while so message me soon, okay?

AG: See ya. :::;)

-ariadosGlory [AG] ceased pestering cuttlefishCutie [CC] at 20:37. -

AriadosGlory was the silly Pokémon-themed handle of your long-time, long-distance best friend Vriska from the United States. She had helped you become (more) fluent in English, which was the only other language you could speak at all besides French. And even then you couldn't actually _speak_ it; you were too shy, so you just wrote English sometimes, and even then it was full of mistakes.

You appear online and she's still on too, unsurprisingly because of the time difference.

- cuttlefishCutie [CC] began pestering ariadosGlory [AG] at 23:02. -

CC: Vriska! 38D

AG: Peixes!

CC: Hehe you still haven't changed your handle. 3X)

AG: No way. Ariados is still the 8est.

AG: *best.

CC: I missed you! How is it with Tavros?

AG: Meh. I asked him out.

CC: FINALLY! 38O

AG: Yeah. ::::)

AG: Anyway, I'm w8ing for his answer. How about you and Ampora?

CC: 38(

AG: Did he br8k up with you? I'm gonna come to France and kick his ass.

CC: No, but we had a fight…

AG: Again.

CC: Again. 38(

CC: But it's fine. I made a new friend!

You and Vriska chat away. Before you even realize it it's been over an hour, just chatting away on Trollian. But not just chatting; chatting about Aradia. You managed to stretch mentioning your new friend into telling Vriska all about her and the wonderful music she played, and the sleepovers you'd had (for some reason she always was covered up; even her pajamas covered her almost entirely) and how she'd come to the aquarium during your shift and put her hand on the glass just so you could swim over in full scuba gear and put your gloved hand against hers.

You literally told her every detail. You find yourself blushing at the computer suddenly.

AG: You two sound like quite the pair. :::;)

CC: YES! 38)

AG: You should 8r8k up with Ampora and just ask her out already.

You stare at the screen for that. Vriska had always been blunt and outspoken, and it was a well-known fact between the two of you that she detested your boyfriend. After all, by some sort of serendipity it had turned out that she had known him before he moved from New York to Paris, though for her it was hardly defined as a happy sort of chancery.

But that was something you hadn't thought of and you didn't even know how to begin approaching it. You imagine Aradia. Her jackets and skirts, her hair which she liked keeping in an updo, her thin figure and her pretty brown eyes. You imagine walking through the aquarium with her, but just one little detail's difference – holding her hand. You can see it just perfectly fine. The same as you could with Eridan… you shake the thought away.

AG: Okay, okay, I went too far. Sorry.

AG: The way you talk about her is just really sweet. And I bet you wouldn't fight with her as much.

AG: Princess? You there?

CC: Sorry! Yes I'm here. 38)

CC: I love Eridan and Aradia has a beau so I really don't know about any of that. But the thought was SWEET!

AG: Cool. I would h8 to lose you over something stupid.

AG: But you oughta at least consider dumping Eridan. He's such a looooooooser and you're a gr8 catch.

CC: Tanks. 38)

AG: *Thanks. Haha.

AG: Now you should go to bed, lady. It's past midnight over there.

CC: But…

AG: Right now! I mean it! ::::l

CC: Okay fine! See you later. 38)

AG: L8r, Peixes.

- cuttlefishCutie [CC] ceased pestering ariadosGlory [AG] at 00:58. -

- cuttlefishCutie [CC] began pestering asagaoAnsatsusha [AA] at 00:59. -

CC: _J'espère que vous vous etes amusez!_

CC: _Bonne nuit. 38)_

- cuttlefishCutie [CC] ceased pestering asagaoAnsatsusha [AA] at 01:02. -

After that you log off and go to bed. You lay there, staring at your ceiling, for a while. You think about Vriska and her life in the United States. Naturally your mind drifts away after a while to Aradia and her date. You don't remember where she said she was going but in your mind you imagine yourself taking her around Paris in the twinkling lights. A fun night out in the city.

You pick up your phone idly, unable to sleep, to see you have a missed call and a voicemail from Eridan. You had forgotten about him and the fight for a while.

"_Je suis navré. Je t'adore. Bonne nuit, mon ange têtue._"

You hold the phone to your ear for a while, the call auto-disconnecting after around fifteen minutes or so. You sigh and hold onto the phone as you fall asleep.

* * *

><p><em>"J'espère que vous vous etes amusez!"<em> means "I hope you had fun!". "_Je suis navré. Je t'adore. Bonne nuit, mon ange t_êtue."_ _means "I'm terribly sorry. I adore you. Good night, my stubborn angel." Aradia's pesterhandle, asagaoAnsatsusha, is "morning glory" and "assassin". (( Thanks to Embers Diminish for the help! ))


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry this took so long!

* * *

><p>Your name is Aradia Megido and you're feeling so very proud. You finally finished your song. It still needed a bit of tweaking, but you could hardly contain your excitement – a rare occurrence for you. Almost ready to play, to unveil.<p>

Suddenly your roommate pounces on you and you let out a cry of surprise.

"Got me, Nepeta," you laugh in English, a language you are far better at than French.

"What's this?" She purrs, poking the paper with a short but even fingernail. "Is it finished yet?"

She'd moved in with you just a few days ago. It was nice having someone to talk to and split the bills with. It was especially nice since there was a particular not-boyfriend you hadn't seen since a particular not-date. Despite how Nepeta had become best friends with Equius (and Karkat, and really everyone she met), she hadn't mentioned the date. No one had. As far as you are concerned it never even happened.

Anyway, Nepeta was a sweet French-born American girl, if eccentric and nosy. So, you'd let her see your song and you roleplayed with her in return, something you loved to do anyway.

"It's almost done," you answer with a wide smile. "It just needs a title and a little adjustment in dynamics, tempo, that kind of thing."

"You have to play it for me when it's done. Purr-lease?"

You chuckle at her cat puns. "Sure thing." Nepeta lets out a celebratory cry before you go on, "Oh, and Feferi wanted to come and visit to see our place and meet you."

Nepeta smiles widely, green eyes sparkling in that mischievous way that you had quickly grown to realize meant either an opportunity to 'ship' had come up, or she was planning something.

"Invite her over tonight! It'll be the best sleepover e-fur! We can have seafood and make a blanket fort and everything."

Honestly you hadn't really talked to Feferi since that night either. Seen her in the mornings when you busked in the metro, sure, as she headed to work at the aquarium. And you had gotten her offline messages on Pesterchum, but that was it. Those and a text suggesting she visit sometime. You feel a little nervous but you pull out your phone regardless, texting a delayed "h0w ab0ut t0night?". She promptly responds with a "YE—ES!"

Before you know it it's nighttime and you and Nepeta are standing in the kitchen. You two prepared seafood for dinner (funnily enough, both Nepeta and Feferi's favorite), a blanket fort, a perfect movie-watching zone on your couch; all the perks of a sure-to-be-great sleepover. At least, you think so. You're making a bowl of popcorn when there's a knock on the door that can only be Feferi.

"I'll get it!" Nepeta announces as she bounds for the door. After a moment you hear Feferi's cheerful hello.

"_Oh mon dieu_," says your roommate in response, slipping effortlessly back into French, "You're just like a Disney princess! Like Belle or Ariel!"

You peek your head out of the kitchen area and you and Feferi share a smile. Nepeta ushers her inside and makes small talk while you bring the dinner and popcorn – a weird combination, fish and popcorn, you think, but what's a movie without popcorn?

Together you watch two movies, both rom-coms that make you laugh and cry and gasp about how great they are once they're over. They can't help but laugh at your exaggerated reactions. Since you've never really had a sleepover, you let the other two guide you to the blanket fort for "girl time". You quickly learn that "girl time" involves first painting each other's nails in your favorite colors – Feferi's are already painted with a shiny pink with a little black bow, so you and Nepeta paint yours maroon and olive, respectively. Then you all sit in a line – Feferi behind you, Nepeta behind her – and play with each other's hair. You wonder how Nepeta will manage, with all of Feferi's hair.

"Hey Aradia," Feferi says as she pulls your hair back from your neck. "… Is that a tattoo?"

You can feel their eyes on you. You wore long sleeves and high neckline pajamas, but you relied on your hair to cover any parts of your horimono that would be visible over your neckline. You had failed to consider this when you'd agreed to let them do your hair. Your face heats up in an embarrassed panic.

"Oh, um, yes. Just a small one," you lie. A small tattoo that covered most of your upper body, sure.

There's a moment of silence before she goes on braiding your hair. "I wanted to get a tattoo… a dolphin on my shoulder. But I was too scared to take the pain." She giggles.

"I was always told not to get one," Nepeta chimes in. "I never even considered it! If I got one, though, I'd get pretty tribal marks!"

"That would be nice.. really unique."

"Does Equiushave tattoos?" Feferi asks you.

"I… don't know."

"You don't know if your boyfriend has tattoos?" She giggles again and a heavy braid falls on your back. You realize she managed to braid your entire birds' nest of a hairstyle.

"He's not my boy—" you start defensively. You realize almost immediately that you shouldn't have said that. Feferi and Nepeta both fall silent, and after just a moment your roommate is nearly on your lap and Feferi is next to you. Both are staring with curious, wide eyes.

"_What?_" Nepeta asks in shocked English, before thinking better. "He's _not?_"

"I thought—" Feferi starts, but she doesn't go on.

Cornered, you have no choice but to spill. You try to explain but your French is already iffy and you're nervous. "I… well… I went with him because he asked, so I had to try, but he wanted to kiss me and then I left." Your face feels like it's sunburned. They're still staring before Nepeta finally breaks the silence.

"_Oh,_" she says as if all the answers have been revealed. "No wonder he was so grumpy about the subject."

"You had better tell him," Feferi suggests. Her hair is in an elaborate series of braids in the front, down in the back. You can see her freckled neck, her collarbone. You can imagine yourself, then, telling Equius you aren't interested, and quietly working away on the song – your song. For Feferi.

"Yes," you agree, "I will."

Later on the night ends at around two am, with the three of you sprawled on a mass of pillows and blankets on the floor. It's too cold for a fan so it's quiet, all too quiet. Half-asleep you squirm a little closer to Feferi, and then you sling an arm around her before regretting it and starting to pull away. She adjusts in response and you realize she's awake.

"Sorry," you whisper.

"Don't worry… I'm a cuddler too," she responds, putting her arms around you and pulling you in. You can hear her rhythmic heartbeat, feel her breathing. "If you're not interested in Equius, is there someone else?"

"Maybe."

"Will you tell us?" Nepeta asks, and you realize she's awake too.

"Never," you answer with a slight smile.


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter is pretty short but important! Hehe, I hope you guys are still enjoying.

* * *

><p>Your name is Feferi Peixes and you have definitely had better days than the one you are having today. It had started well enough – it wasn't too cold outside and you had spent the morning talking on Pesterchum with your friend Jade whom you hadn't talked to in a few months. You'd gone to school together, but she had left for "adventures".<p>

Things took a turn for the worse, you suppose, when your mother called. Naturally you didn't answer, but you listened to the voicemail. In her sickeningly sweet –and entirely faked— voice, she'd said, "I _know_ you're home, darling. Work's thinning out and I'm going to come and visit you soon. We have things to discuss. Kisses!"

And then you'd gotten another call. You hid from the phone a moment before curiosity got the better of you and you checked caller I.D. – Eridan. You picked up on the last ring and he asked you to meet him at the aquarium where you worked. It didn't seem odd at the time – sweet, really – but looking back on it you realize his tone sounded strange, not in a good mood.

You headed for the metro, then, dressed for a date; your hair in strawberry blonde braids like a crown, the back down; a strapless pink dress with a gold belt to accent your prominent collarbone and shoulders lightly dusted with freckles. Still, you had a nervous feeling in your gut.

Aradia was playing a beautiful song you'd never heard her play before. You stood till she finished, then stayed for one more. You two didn't talk this time, but shared a smile and you tipped her as usual before you left.

Somehow after that you ended up where you are now; sitting on a bench outside of the aquarium, your cheek stinging, eyes burning. You want to cry but you don't. You are sad, angry, and most pointedly of all, single. Tentatively touching your cheek, you sigh. He'd slapped you. You'd deserved it, though. You'd slapped him first.

The whole event had been a landslide argument, nearly. You entered the aquarium, your coworkers smiling at you though a bit confused why you'd showed up on an off day.

"Hey, Fef," Eridan greeted you coolly, his hands in his pockets.

"_Bon_jour, _monsieur._" You smiled. You didn't mind so much that he didn't notice your outfit though normally he would have. "It's pretty romantic. This is where we met."

The two of you walked in silence after that towards the biggest tank in the aquarium, making up a wall at least two and a half times your own height. As you arrived he turned toward you and you stopped.

"_Mon ange têtue…_" When did he start calling you that? It must have been recently, you thought to yourself. You just waited for him to continue. You felt uneasy as your mind brought forth the memory of when you finally agreed to go on a date with him; you'd shot him down four times before the day you had been in the tank and he'd walked up with a notebook that said "Let's not be anemones" on the first page, "Let's cuddlefish" on the second, and "Give me a chance?" on the third.

"Fef, I think we should break up."

That snapped you out of your thoughts. "Why…?"

"I just think you're holdin' me back."

"Holding you back?" You raised your voice. "I've _encouraged_ everything you do!"

"You have not! You don't encourage any a' my opinions!"

"You just want all the priveleges for some and none for others! You're trying to influence the politicians you interview! Because your opinions are crazy!"

"You're the crazy one!" Suddenly his eyes filled with a sort of hurt. "You're the one who's been cheatin' on me!"

And then you slapped him. The aquarium, near empty at that hour, was like your own little bubble where you two were all alone, fighting and upset and completely isolated, no consequences. Your slap was fueled by the accusations, by your hurt, by your mother, by everything that was wrong right at that moment. And then he slapped you back, leaving you reeling with your cheek stinging.

"You've got no right to slap me!" He exclaimed with a violent yet wounded look in his eyes.

"We're over! We're over!" You found yourself repeating with all the venom you had left in you.

"We were already over!" He answered as you stormed out.

Now you keep replaying it in your head. More than that you keep wondering if there were signs that it was coming. '_Mon ange têtue,_' he called you. The tinge of jealousy in his voice when you texted Aradia when you were around him. With a sigh you dismiss the thoughts and head home. The metro feels too crowded and noisy without Aradia there.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry this chapter was so long in the making! Thanks for sticking around.

* * *

><p>Your name is Aradia Megido and something is wrong with your best friend. It had been the first indication when Feferi wasn't answering your texts nor had she logged onto Pesterchum. The only time she had bad days, really, was on days she argued with Eridan, but even then it only lasted a few hours.<p>

Finally she texts you in the afternoon, "Come over?". You answer, "_je serai là dans un m0ment_" and you are on your way. You arrive at the stately house promptly and knock on the door. After a long moment she answers, in a white slip over pink pajama bottoms, hair messy. But damn if she wasn't still pretty.

She steps forward and then wraps her arms around you, hugging tightly, and you hug back because you can tell how much she needs it. It's hard to believe that this is the same happy-go-lucky girl who was always smiling and tipped you enough to practically pay your rent entirely herself. After a moment you pull away and she motions you inside.

"Do you.. want something to drink?" She asks, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Do you have tea?" You answer and she nods. "I'll make it."

You look around her house momentarily as you head into the kitchen. It's pretty; light blue walls and ships and waves carved into the molding. Immaculate; it looks like the sort of house that someone had just moved into. There's a dining room, but in the corner of the kitchen by two windows is a sitting-table with two long pillows for seats. It's quiet as you make the tea. The house is big and spacious in an empty sort of way.

You sit down on other pillow and hand her her tea. She smiles at you, looking a lot more like her normal self. You smile back.

"Thanks."

"Of course." You pause. "What happened?"

"Me and Eridan… we kind of broke up."

"Kind of?"

"Definitely. Definitely broke up." Suddenly she's not smiling anymore, not even making an effort. Her eyes are glistening as she adds, "On Saturday."

Setting down your tea, you're not on the pillow anymore. You're next to her on her pillow, your arms wrapped around her. She's okay at first, but she starts to cry as she explains.

"Said I was.. 'holding him back', that… I was cheating on him… We hit each other and… And it's over…"

You don't say anything. You'd never seen her cry harder. You pull her head close to your heart where she can hear it beating, her tears staining your shirt. And at that moment, fully accepting everything you feel about her, you want to kiss her. You want to kiss her at her best or at her worst. You want to make her smile. She is your precious person, and you want to hold her close for eternity. You rest your head on top of hers, stroking her back with your fingers.

"I'm sorry," you whisper eventually, and you let her cry it out.

After a long time just sitting like that, she's stopped crying and you just hold her. You shakes a little with remnant sobs and you twirl your fingers into her hair. She's so warm and while she calms you note the freckles down the whole of her body, so cute, inviting you to trace them with your fingers. And you would. You would if you had the chance, but she is not yours to do so with.

"Thanks so much," she murmurs into your blouse, her hands reaching up almost aimlessly around your neck. A few fingertips land on your cheek and she looks up at you with a slight smile, then sniffs. "Thank you for being here for me, Aradia."

You take a moment to let your heart recover from the sight of that and you smile back. "What are friends for?" You answer.

Friends. You're so happy you met this wonderful girl. So happy to call her friend. Not ashamed to realize you are falling in love with her.

You don't know how long it's been, just sitting there in the kitchen like that, but by the time you actually let go of her and you both stretch and talk and laugh just a little in the light way when you're cheering someone up. Eventually you decide to leave, you suppose, and she gives you a quick hug on the way out. At some point it seemed that the afternoon had turned to evening, and you take a taxi to your apartment.

"Nepeta?" You call as you enter, hanging your key on the peg and closing the door. "Are you still awake?"

Out of nowhere, your roommate pounces on you, arms on your shoulders, legs around your torso. It knocks the wind out of you and makes you lose your balance, falling to the side onto a luckily-placed pile of pillows on the edge of the living area. You let out an 'oof' as you hit, Nepeta crawling off of you and rubbing at her head apologetically.

"I was just guarding the apurrtment – I thought you were gonna stay at Feferi's tonight," she confesses. You let out a breathless laugh, one of your cats moseying up to rub himself against you as you sit up.

"No, sorry," you answer with a slight smile, "I meant to leave a note."

"That's okay!" She responds with a shake of her head, grinning widely. "Look – hold on, I have to show you!"

She scampers off, nearly on all fours at first before pulling herself up on two legs. It was funny how animal-like she could be, you think to yourself, sprawling back on the pillows. Nepeta almost resembled the cats and dogs at the animal shelter where she volunteered.

After a moment she comes back with a camera, flopping down onto the pile with you and turning it on to show you the digital image of her and a familiar face. You'd only met Terezi once, but she was a promising law student with a strange eye condition, leaving her with alarming red, milky eyes that were almost entirely pupil, with very little sight. Still, she was a vibrant personality, just like Nepeta, and evidently they shared several things in common. The picture is of the two dressed in roleplaying outfits, taken from what was probably a video of them acting it out.

"You roleplayed with Terezi without me?" You ask her, raising an eyebrow. "I am offended."

"_Sorry_," she answers, and you shrug with a smile. "But look! Karkitty showed up, and we got him to play with us!" She changes the picture to the next, which is of Terezi and Karkat apparently swordfighting. Then the next, with Nepeta posed to roar at him. "He was a little crabby about it, but eventually he actually started having fun, I think!"

You chuckle as she pulls away the camera, looking down at it in her hands before she turns it off. Then she looks up at you with her eyes still vibrant even in the dark. "We're my OTP."

"One true pairing," you murmur, then you smile back at her. "I think that if he doesn't like you, he's really missing out."

"I wish he would like me – then both of my two favorite pairings could be coming true!" At your questioning look, she elaborates. "You and Fefurry, and me and Karkitty."

You lay back on the pillows and close your eyes with a sigh. When normally you'd argue that you and Feferi were friends, this time you just embrace the familiar and comforting darkness behind your eyelids, a slight smile on your lips. "I can only hope," you tell her, and that's the most honest thing you've said today.


End file.
